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Zachary M. Madsen, the man accused of attacking WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart during the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in Brooklyn, NY was slated to appear in Kings Criminal Court in Brooklyn this past Tuesday 5/28, but the hearing was pushed back to Tuesday 7/9, PWInsider.com has learned. This is the second time Madsen's case has been pushed back to a new date.
This past April, Madsen, 25-years old, was charged with two counts of assault in the third degree as well as trespassing after hitting the ring that was being used as the stage for the acceptance speeches to tackle Bret Hart, taking down the WWE Hall of Famer and Natalya on Saturday 4/6. In New York, Assault in the third degree is an A misdemeanor and can be punishable in up to a year in jail per count, should Madsen be found guilty.
Madsen, dressed in a costume, was able to get to the floor of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at the Barclays Center and hit the ring before security could stop him. Madsen tackled Bret Hart, taking him and WWE star Natalya down in the ring. After tackling Hart, Madsen was immediately besieged by a number of pro wrestlers, including Hart’s nephew Davey Boy Smith Jr., The New Day, Shane McMahon, Curtis Axel, Heath Slater and many others. Video of the incident clearly shows Dash Wilder drilling Madsen with an incredible punch as well After Madsen was dragged out of the Barclays Center, Drake Maverik, who had entered the fray, demanded that everyone ignore him and have Bret Hart continue his acceptance speech for the Hart Foundation, which Bret did to thunderous applause.
Hart and WWE security guard Thaddeus Jones were each examined after the incident at a local hospital but released. Hart was dealing with pain and stiffness in his hip after the incident.
Madsen allegedly told authorities "it felt like it was the right time" for him to attack Hart.
WWE issued the following statement following the incident: “An over-exuberant fan surpassed our security at ringside and made his way briefly into the ring. The individual has been turned over to the proper authorities.”
Madsen’s Twitter account (now deleted) featured a number of strange tweets towards WWE personalities, including Triple H (demanding that women not headline Wrestlemania), Vince McMahon (featuring a photo of himself painted up as Batman foe the Joker and wearing the costume hat he wore when charging the ring) and others.
Madsen is slated to appear in court on 6/17 in Lincoln, Nebraska in regard to an unrelated stalking arrest from January of this year, where he was apprehended and charged with stalking and violation of a protection order. Local media reports in Nebraska noted that Madsen had been allegedly stalking MMA fighter Haris Talundzic and that his January arrest was Madsen's third arrest in relation to that situation. Talundzic had taken out an order of protection against Madsen, who responded on his social media that the order "meant nothing to him." The stalking began after Talundzic left the gym he had been working out at alongside Madsen. Madsen violated the order of protection several times, according to KLKN ABC Channel 8 in Nebraska. Talundzic compared Madsen to a "mass shooter" as well, according to the KLKN.
WWE has removed all footage of the attack on Hart from the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony's VOD replay on the WWE Network.
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